Rise from Ashes
by Moonlightmistborn
Summary: I was and had nothing. I lived on the streets and helped out where I could, but other than that, I was your average gamma radiation affected teenager. Oh, right, I wasn't supposed to say that. Oh well. Screw Fury and his confidentiality anyway. I was blackmailed into joining SHIELD, just so you know. Probably the only time blackmail's ever turned out well. Rated T because teenagers
1. Chapter 1

**Yeah, another story. I'm getting hit with inspiration, alright?**

 **Unknown's P.O.V.**

 **The young girl and the man ran farther into the city, twisting into alleyways and side streets. The girl stumbled once, and the man hastily helped her up. The turned into an alley, hiding at the end of it.**

 **"Nix," the man whispered to the scared, exhausted girl, "Nix, listen to me. They won't stop chasing us until they get me. You know that."**

 **"NO!" the girl sobbed, "You can't! Please!"**

 **"Phoenix, I need to," he said gently, "The won't stop chasing us if I don't. I don't want you to grow up with this hanging over you constantly."**

 **"But, you can't," she said, still sobbing and hiccuping, "They'll experiment on you, and try to-"**

 **"I know, Nix," he said softly, "But they don't know about you. Do not _ever_ let anyone know about what the gamma radiation did to you. Then they will hunt you down, just like how I am being hunted."**

 **"You can't," she whispered sadly.**

 **"I have to," he said firmly, "Take this," he pressed some money, his watch, and a multi-tool into her hands, "Please, Phoenix. Survive. Make a good name for gamma affected people, will you?" With a small smile, the man ran out of the alleyway the way he came, provoking shouts of "There he is!" or "Take him down!" The young girl choked back sobs as she slid down with her back against the wall.**

 **"Daddy, please," she cried softly, "Please come back."**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

I jolted awake, hitting my head on the top of the air vent I was taking refuge in.

"Owww," I muttered, rubbing the sore spot on my head. I tried to straighten out my crooked position in the vent, stretching out and loosening up my spine and neck. I yawned as I checked the time on the worn watch I had. Seven in the morning. I groaned, dropping my head back, but then scooted my way out of the vent. I stumbled out of the vent, eventually landing on my feet, wincing as pain shot through my busted knee and torso. The concrete wall just _had_ to be thrown on me, didn't it? I looked around at my back, rearranging the bag on my shoulders. I took an experimental step, then decided the pain wasn't too bad.

And now, another glorious, exciting day in New York. Which normally involves me getting pummeled by supervillians or me pummeling supervillians because of this little annoying thing called "selflessness". I stretched out my limbs fully as I walked out of the alley. Well, most of my limbs. I'll explain later. I pulled my hood down over my head and some of my face. I shoved my cut hands into my pockets and kept my head down. I took out a phone I swiped along with a pair of earbuds, also pick-pocketed. I plugged in the earbuds and shoved them into my ears. I easily hacked into the phone and blasted music into my eardrums.

 _I walk a lonely road_

 _The only one that I have ever known._

I sighed as I made my way to the shipping docks. Normally where it was least crowded at this time of day.

 _Don't know where it goes_

 _But it's only me, and I walk alone_

I weaved in and out of people, eyeing people as I did. I normally only stole from people who looked like they could afford it. For instance, the phone and earbuds I stole? From a girl who only said, "Whatever. I'll get a new one," when I snatched it from her.

 _I walk this empty street_

 _On boulevard of broken dreams_

I pick-pocketed a woman dripping in jewelry of a hundred dollar bill and a gold bracelet. Honestly, could they get any dumber? Bringing cash and jewelry with them in this part of New York? I shoved those in my pockets, making my way to the docks.

 _Where the city sleeps_

 _And I'm the only one, and I walk alone_

I exhaled in relief when I got to the docks without any interruptions. How nice. Life must be being nice to me today. Or so I thought.

 _I walk alone, I walk alone_

 _I walk alone, and I walk a_

Of course, I should've known there is no such thing. Life is _never_ nice. To me, at least.

 _My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_

 _My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating_

So, just to make my life inconvenient, right when I get to the docks, an explosion goes off at the heart of the city. I mutter a few curse words under my breath, then sigh, hating myself for wanting to save people. I reluctantly pull out my earbuds, and I duck into a gap in between some shipping containers and shrug off my backpack, revealing sunset-mottled wings.

 _My_ sunset-mottled wings. Which I _finally_ got to stretch. I extended them to their full span, then folded them again. I started a small fire in my palm, then waved it over myself. The flames trickled over me, creating body armor and a face guard. My hair was set aflame as the fire created my mask. I waited impatiently as the fire solidified into a torso plate, leg guards, gauntlets, and armored boots. As soon as my fire plating was done, I gave my wings an experimental flap, then shot upward, scanning the for the site of destruction. A bank. Probably Batroc or Wrecking Crew. Preferably Batroc. Wrecking Crew gave me my busted knee and three broken ribs, even though I still beat them. And they somehow escaped, already. I question SHIELD's prison security. It's a wonder Dad hasn't gotten out.

Wait, he hasn't been caught yet. It would be all over the news if he _was_ caught.

I shook off my thoughts as I sped towards the bank. And it was-

Batroc. Easy then. I dived toward the ground, right in front of the Leaper. I caught him by the shoulders and lifted him up.

"Hey, French dude," I said casually, curling my head down to look at him, "Remember me?"

"Ahhh!" he screamed. Yep, he remembered me.

"Listen, I'm going to give you two choices," I said nonchalantly as I hovered over a rooftop, "You let go of the money, and I will give you to SHIELD without any harm done to you. If you don't, I'll knock you out, hand you over to SHIELD and give back the money anyway." He tried kicking me in the face, which I narrowly dodged, dropping him. "Option two it is, then," I said, smirking.

I dived down, feet first onto Batroc. I forced him to face plant into the roof, which probably made his back uncomfortably warm with my fire-plated boots. I jumped off him, waiting for him to get up. He scrambled up and tried to run, instead getting his face introduced to my fist. He yelped and lifted his hand to his cheek. I rolled my eyes, then swung my leg into his stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of him. I then punched him in the face again, this time, knocking him out and leaving him with a fist-shaped burn mark on his face. I cracked my knuckles then I grabbed him by his shoulders, flying up again. I grabbed the money from his limp hands and threw it down to the bank.

Now, time to go to my favorite place. SHIELD helicarrier. Whoopee. I sighed as the flying craft came into view. I knew what was going to happen already. It was the same, every single time. I bring in villain, Fury tries to get me to join SHIELD, I refuse a lot, we get into yelling match, normally ending with me shooting feather blades or fire at him. The only reason I went to SHIELD was because I didn't have prisons to put villains in. Other than that, I wanted nothing to do with them.

"Incoming!" I yelled to the SHIELD agents on deck, landing on the top deck of the helicarrier, "I have a present for Fury." I lifted Batroc up with my hand.

"Main control room," the agent said, not looking up from his tablet. They had gotten used to me by now. I mean, I _have_ been doing this since I was, what, twelve? And I'm sixteen now. Four years. Wow. What a way to spend my life. I nodded to the agent then dragged Batroc with me to the elevator. I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited for the stupid thing to get to the right floor. I walked casually out of the elevator, dragging the unconscious French man behind me, ignoring the gawking of passing agents. I entered the control room, throwing Batroc in first, then following.

"Present for you, Fury," I said, folding my arms across my chest and folding my wings. He turned around with a raised eyebrow.

"Leaper?" he asked, "What he do this time?"

"Blew up bank, stole money," I said, picking at my nails, "You know, I really question your prison security."

"Who are you?"

I turned around to greet the owner of the feminine voice. A girl in a white striped body suit had her head cocked. She's obviously the one who asked the question, since she was the only girl in the group. Group of who? Looks like teenage superheroes. There was one dude in a green spandex suit with a dragon mark on the chest and a yellow belt around his waist and a yellow mask tied around his head. Another guy was dark-skinned and had shades, a yellow short-sleeved shirt with metal ends on the sleeves, and black everything else, except for his yellow boots. A video of a red and blue costumed person was playing behind them.

"Call me Firebird," I said. No way was I giving anyone my actual name. "And you?"

"White Tiger," the girl replied.

"Iron Fist," the dude in the green spandex said.

"I'm-" the dark-skinned dude didn't get to finish because another guy with a golden bucket on his head burst in.

"Why is Fury testing a new candidate?!" he asked, "I didn't approve this!"

"It obviously doesn't matter if no one listens to you," I said irritably. He looked at me and narrowed his eyes at me.

"Who's this kid? I didn't authorize another on my team!" Before he could rant more, I cut him off.

"Okay, one: I'm not joining anything of SHIELD's. Two: This 'kid' can fuse the golden bucket on your head to your skull permanently," I glared at him, which he readily met with his own. "Can I go now?" I asked, turning back to Fury, "Because we both know is you try to convince me to join SHIELD, it will end up with another piece of your helicarrier in need of repair."

"Not exactly," he said. I sighed, unfurling my wings to their full length.

"Yes exactly! You have nothing on me, Fury," I said, "I've been bringing you villains, and I haven't committed a crime. You don't even know who I actually am or what I look like. So, unless you would like a destroyed main control room, I would suggest letting me go." A period of silence followed my outburst, which was broken by Bucketboy.

"Oh, I like her," he said. I swung one of my wings back, launching sharp bladed feathers at him without looking away from Fury. A yelp from him followed. I just narrowed my eyes at the SHIELD director and turned around, making my way out.

"I could always contact the Mutant Response Division," he said quietly. I turned around.

"So basically, you're offering me a position here, or imprisonment," I said with a humorless laugh, "Wow, Fury. I almost prefer prison. But then again, I like my wings free, not chained. Of course, who's to say you won't chain me up either?"

The other teenagers were swiveling their heads back and forth between both of us as we spoke, like they were watching ping pong.

"Only if proven you have connection with threats," Fury said coolly.

"Uh, Fury," I said, "I _am_ a threat. And you know it. Hell, that's the whole reason you want me to even join SHIELD. To keep an eye on me, since I actually don't have any background. So you could arrest me at any time you want. That's-" I cut myself off, realizing what he was doing, "You're _blackmailing_ me?!"

"I prefer the term 'reasoning'," he said calmly.

"Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night," I seethed. He might actually get me into SHIELD this time. "I will _not_ join SHIELD."

"Alright," he said, "Off to a cell, then."

"Stupid, one-eyed pirate bastard of a blackmailer," I muttered darkly. Evidently, not too well, since it seemed like Fury heard me.

"Didn't your mother tell you it's not nice to call people names?" he said, raising an eyebrow. That was it. That was all it took.

"No!" I yelled, losing control, "Because my _mother_ left me on a _doorstep_ since she didn't want me!" Silence followed my outburst. Even the computers didn't seem to dare make a noise. I mentally slapped myself. Idiot. Why did I do that? I don't want to give SHIELD _anything_. And I just gave Fury a some background on me. Not enough to matter, but what if I slip up again? I can't let anyone in.

"What was that?" he asked after several moments of silence.

"Screw off, Fury," I spat, "Now, if you're going to arrest me, get it over with." I noticed the teens had left the room. Probably a good thing. It might get ugly.

"I think we have another option," he tried reasoning, but I cut him off.

"Fury, I think I've made it perfectly crystal clear," I growled, "I will do _anything_ to _not_ join SHIELD."

"Why are you so focused on _not_ joining SHIELD?" he asked, exasperation finally showing through.

"As you would say, Fury: Classified," I said rather bitterly, "Now let me go before I go through one of your windows."

"Actually, Firebird," he said, waving someone into the room, "I think I'll be the one giving orders." It wasn't until I heard unmistakable _clicks_ of guns being loaded that I realized what was happening.

"I hate you," I grumbled, holding my hands up as I turned around, meeting the agents who had their guns trained on me, "I _really_ hate you."

"I've heard that before," he said, "Now, I'm going to give you a choice: Become part of SHIELD, or become a prisoner."

Now, if it were just me, I would take prison. Honestly. But, it's not just me. It's Dad's guidance. He said to survive, and I'm pretty sure imprisonment doesn't count as surviving.

Oh, I hate you, Dad.

"Fine!" I said unhappily. They all immediately lowered their guns. I whirled around to face Fury. "This is _not_ over," I hissed.

"Wouldn't count on it," he said calmly, walking out into the hall. He turned to one of the agents, "Put Leaper in a cell," he turned back to me, "I'll show you your new team."

"I didn't agree to be on a team!" I yelled after him. I sighed, running to catch up.

"Well, you're going to be on one, so you better get used to them," he said, gesturing towards the elevator. I glared at him.

"You really think keeping me locked up with you in a confined space is a good idea, even for an extremely short time?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I can handle myself," he said coolly. I snorted, then walked onto the elevator. The oh-so-wonderful director stepped in after. Thankfully, the elevator was fast, so awkward silence only lasted for a few moments.

When the doors opened, Fury gestured towards the floor we were now on. "Ladies first."

"Screw you, Fury," I spat back, storming out of the elevator. I huffed and immediately flew up to the roof rafters. I curled my legs around a beam and wrapped my wings around me. Just because Fury was making me join a team doesn't mean I have interact with them.

"Hey, who's she?" a completely new voice asked. I peeked out from my feathers to see who it was, and it turned out to be the red and blue costumed dude from the video. I huffed again and buried myself in my feathers.

"Firebird," Fury's voice replied.

"Yeah, not clearing anything up," the new boy deadpanned, "It doesn't matter anyway; I'm out of here!"

"Lucky you," I muttered.

"Firebird, get down from there," Coulson ordered.

"Go away," I said, my voice muffled through the feathers.

"You're supposed to meet your new team," he said sternly.

"Already know them," I mumbled.

"Firebird," Coulson said, sounding very serious, "Down. _Now._ "

I huffed and uncurled my legs from the beam, flipping around so I landed feet-first. I grumbled something colorful about stubborn SHIELD agents. Evidently, not quietly enough, since everyone around me (teen superheroes and Coulson) looked at me with a surprised expression.

"What?" I demanded. Very conveniently for them, Fury showed up on the computer.

"Team, I need you to tail Spiderman," he said, "Keep him out of trouble. Fury out." The screen winked out.

"Why do I think trouble means supervillains?" I groaned, following the team out of the ship.

"Probably because it does," White Tiger replied.

Oh joy. My first day with SHIELD.

This should be fun.

* * *

 **Yeah, I had to leave you hangin like that. Sorry.**

 **Anyway, important message: I won't be posting anything for the next three weeks since I'm on vacation. :P. Sorry. But, I'll make sure to update after.**

 **Soooo...**

 **PEACE OUT PEOPLES!**

 **Moonlightmistborn**


	2. IMPORTANT READ

**Alright, I** ** _am_** **going to continue the story, but I need votes on what pairing I should do for Firebird, since I sorta need to base the plot on it. So I need the votes to actually complete the next chapter. I refuse to do Spiderman since I ship SpiderTiger. Sorry.**

 **GIVE ME YOUR VOTES. I NEED THEM.**

 **Peace out.**

 **Moonlightmistborn**


	3. Chapter 2

**I LIVE! Anyway...**

 **Okay, the results are in:**

 **Power Man/Luke Cage: llllll**

 **Iron Fist/Danny: llllll**

 **Nova/Sam Alexander: ll**

 **None: l**

 **I'll admit, I was _not_ expecting the whole barrage of votes for Luke. That just blew my mind away.**

 **Buuuut, we need a tiebreaker! Dannix or Pheonuke? Ironbird or Powerbird? Seriously, I need to know!**

 **Anyway, onward to: Chapter 2! (Rhyme. Yeah. Lame, I know.)**

 **Third person P.O.V.**

The winged girl immediately flew out through a window as soon as she saw it, not waiting for anyone else. The rest of the teen heroes just stared after her. Power Man was the first to speak.

"Doesn't she know we have to work as a team?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm pretty sure she knows," Iron Fist said quietly, "I just think she doesn't care."

"We're wasting time!" White Tiger snapped, "Nova, get us out."

" _All_ of you?" he asked incredulously. When he received a glare from the girl, he sighed unhappily, "Fine."

 **Firebird's P.O.V.**

Fury may have forced me to become part of a team, but he can't force me to work with them. Well, he probably can, but he hasn't yet. So, _ha_.

But, unfortunately, I had to obey his orders. Which were to find Spiderman. I think I heard J. Jonah Jameson yelling about him a couple times, as well as me. He was the 'wall-crawling menace' and I was the 'winged arsonist'. Other than that, I didn't know anything about him. I soared upwards, taking a bird's eye view of a part of the city. I narrowed my eyes at the sight of the red and blue figure surrounded by colorful villains on a rooftop. With no plan whatsoever, I dive bombed towards Klaw, hoping to take him out. I caught him by surprise, but then he regained his composure, aiming his sonic claw at me. I gritted my teeth together and glared at him. Stupid sonic converter.

"Ah," the Wizard said, not seeming phased with me being here, even though he probably was, "So you're the little bird the Leader has a bounty out for."

I felt a unfortunately familiar wave of rage rush through me. I clamped down on it, settling for throwing my wing out toward him, smirking when he yelped and leaned out of the way. My satisfaction was short lived, though, since Klaw decided to stop my antics by powering up the concentrated sound aimed at me already.

Thanks, Klaw. I appreciate it.

I fell to my knees, yelping out in pain. I burned my flames brighter and stronger, pulsing it towards Klaw's...erm, claw. The metal sonic converter turned red, shutting off. Klaw stopped aiming it at me and looked at his weapon in confusion. I rolled my eyes. They should really have villains with brains. Like, actual _thinking_ brains instead of a lump of organ. Then, again, Klaw _is_ an android...

I took the distraction and heated up my wings, then swung it towards the three members of the Frightful Four. One of my feathers hurtled towards Thundra, which she blocked with her chain spiked ball. However, it _did_ distract her from Spiderman, which is what I was trying to do in the first place. The others hit Klaw, which further rendered him useless, or were deflected by Wizard's anti-gravity.

 _Aaaand_ now I had three villains who were, to say, completely pissed off. Yeah, I had taken down the Wrecking Crew, but that was with help from the... _other girl._ Only _after_ the wall got thrown on me. And I really didn't like asking for her help. I actually didn't even ask for her help. She just - okay, I'm going off topic.

"How do I even get in these situations?" I mumbled.

"Now is your end, Firebird!" Thundra shouted.

"Yeah, yeah, can we skip the ranting?" I snapped, "I really have had enough people telling me they will destroy me."

Thundra yelled out in rage, rushing at me. I feinted a punch to her left, instead wrapping my arms around her neck, pulling her stomach down onto my knee, _hard_. She stumbled backward, then swung the ball on the end of her chain into my stomach. It swung me into the nearest side of a building. I grunted as the spikes on the ball dug into my torso and punctured my skin. I grabbed onto the metal ball, heating up my hands. The metal turned red-hot, causing her to yelp, and try to untangle the chain from her wrist to prevent further burns. I pushed the metal ball off my stomach and flapped my wings to stabilize myself. I gritted my teeth as I lifted a hand to my stomach, phasing it through the flames. Blood was flowing out of the puncture wounds, but I could probably last until the warehouse, though I would have to hide it from the kids. I soared up and above the Frightful Three, as I will call them, because it would be stupid to call them otherwise, and stared at them, attempting nonchalance.

"That the best you've got, lugheads?" I taunted.

I'll admit, it was a pretty stupid idea to piss off the angered villains even more, but I piss off everybody. Deal with it.

Wizard yelled out in rage, and threw his anti-gravity discs at me, missing completely.

Klaw, whose sonic converter had cooled off by now, took aim and blasted the concentrated sound at me. Or, trying to. I, being the annoying person I was, flew around, avoiding the blast.

Thundra had unwound the chain from her wrist quickly, before it burned into her skin, though I could see a sizable burn mark on her arm. She launched at me from the rooftop, eyes widening at her mistake as soon as she left the platform.

 _I_ could control my position in the air. Her? Not so much.

So, of course the logical solution was to knock me out of the air, taking me down with her.

 _Yaaay._

She wrapped her arms around my waist and wings and knocked me out of the air, knocking the wind out of me, and sending Thundra and me hurtling towards the ground. I rolled in the air, leaving her on the bottom to take most of the fall's damage. I elbowed her arm joints, causing her to let her grip go of my wings. I swung them up, buffeting them so I could keep from becoming a Firebird pancake. I sighed, then facepalmed at my mistake. I flew down under Thundra, and threw her up before she hit the ground, trying to ignore the pain in my stomach. Yeah, civilians. I'm doing this for you, even though you hate me. I pushed Thundra up into the air, my wings tiring way too fast.

"C'mon," I muttered. A sudden blur of blue flew beside me, taking Thundra up with it. I recognized the buckethead from the helicarrier. "I had it!" I yelled at him.

"You're welcome!" he said sarcastically, before dropping Thundra onto the roof. I grumbled, flying up easily now without Thundra's extra weight. As I shot up above the roof's level, I recognized the teens from the helicarrier.

"Wonderful," I muttered, before flying into Wizard, distracting him from...the dude in the yellow shirt who he had put a disk on. I tackled him to the ground, creating a sizable dent in the concrete rooftop. He quickly got over his shock, and shocked me, causing me to loosen my grip. He kept on sending the courses of electricity through me. I felt the wave of rage rush over me once again, and this time, I let it carry through. White hot flames erupted from my hands, burning the shoulders Wizard's suit into molten metal. He yelled out as the liquid metal touched him, burning him.

 _"No, no, no, NO!"_ I thought frantically, desperately trying to rein the rage back in. I felt the anger ebb away.

The Wizard unleashed a strong pulse of electricity that weaved through me, forcing me off the Wizard. I cried out as I convulsed on the roof. The other girl was asking- _begging_ to be let out, to defend me. I fought her away from my mind, forcing her to rest in the back of my head. The electric shock soon left my body, allowing me to sit upright. The other teens were gathered on the other side of the building, preoccupied with something or another.

 _"That's my cue to leave,"_ I thought, lifting myself up. My body ached at moving even the slightest bit. My injuries from yesterday weren't helping either.

But I had to get out there.

I frantically beat my wings, gaining some elevation over the rooftop. I turned around and flapped my wings once, helping me gain speed, allowing me to soar over the city easily.

 _Don't let them notice, don't let them notice, don't let them-_

"Hey, where are you going?"

 _Goddamn it._

I buffeted my wings some more, gaining more speed. They were _not_ going to take me back to the helicarrier. Nope.

"Wait up!" That only made me speed up more, even as my body groaned in protest.

"We're talking to you!"

"And I wasn't!" I snarled, turning my head behind me, before snapping it forward again. They were gaining. And after that little comment I just made, they just seemed to speed up.

See what I mean about being able to piss off everybody? It's a rather special talent of mine.

I made sharp turns around buildings, trying to lose them. It wasn't working. That meant the last resort technique.

"Aw, crap," I whined to myself as I made my way toward the harbor, "I hate this plan." I shot like a bullet towards the docks. As I I whirled around the full 180 degrees, and faced the incoming group of teenagers.

"You're cornered, Firebird!" White Tiger said, "Nowhere to run!"

"Technically, it's flying," I said as-a-matter-of-fact-ly, "And who says I have to?" As soon as I said that, I immediately folded my wings and dive bombed into the ocean.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Water+fire=what in the hell are you thinking? My flames were immediately extinguished as soon as I was submerged underwater, but my wings worked fine. I swung them toward the direction of the opening in the cement wall in the port's side. I flew into it, lungs screaming for air. I popped my head above the water level as soon as the tunnel's roof elevated.

"Ugh, water," I muttered, letting my body float in the current, too exhausted to move. I counted the grates, keeping an eye out for the seventh one. As it came into view, I grasped onto the bars, pushing the already loose grate up, myself following soon after. The only reason I knew about the drainage system was a hide-and-seek game with the kids.

Uh, maybe I should explain the kids. You see, I sorta run an...illegal orphanage. I used my awesome techno skills to steal money from bank accounts. That is, until, _someone, *coughStarkcough*_ , caught me. It's cool though. He makes donations to the bank account I set up for the orphanage, so long as I don't try hacking his systems again. Seriously, he had the Avengers after me and everything. It was kinda alarming. Especially seeing the Hulk there...

"Hey Ash! You never came back last night!" I groaned as I lifted my head up. One of the older girls, Scarlet, who knew about me being the "winged arsonist" came up to me.

"Wow," she said, after letting out a low whistle, "You look like shit."

"I feel like it too," I muttered, "Help me up, Scar, I need to patch myself up."

"Umm, Ash, we ran out of sedative-"

"Then I guess I'll have to do without it," I replied firmly, not missing a beat. She looked at me nervously, extending her hand out for me to grab.

"What if the kids-"

"I won't let them know," I said, grasping her hand and pulling myself up, "Keep them occupied."

She nodded nervously, before taking off. I sighed. She was a good kid. The reason she found me was most likely because she was looking for me. Stubborn girl. I flapped my wings noiselessly, taking off onto the higher levels. I landed a little less gracefully than I would like to admit, but then regained my balance. I walked into the (unfortunately) frequently visited medical room. I sighed, taking a tray of my normal medical supplies before lying down on the bed.

"This is going to be hell," I muttered, then paused before saying, "But then again, I walk straight through it with a smile.*"

I exhaled.

Then, I began my operation.

* * *

 **DUN DUN DUN! Yea, I'm alive.**

 ***Can anyone guess this song reference? Anyone?**

 **Dramatic stuff! Badass Firebird! A VOTE THAT I REALLY NEED ANSWERED!**

 **Okay, rant's over. BUT I NEEDS THE VOTES! I NEEDS THEM!**

 **Anyway...**

 **PEACE OUT PEOPLES!**

 **Moonlightmistborn**


	4. Chapter 3

**Yes, I have taken a long time to upload. Yes, it's because of school. Yes, I'm sorry.**

 **Anyway:**

 **Danny: lllll**

 **Luke: ll**

 **Sorry Pheonuke shippers. Votes are votes.**

 **Pheonix's P.O.V.**

I winced in pain as I came into consciousness. My stomach was screaming in pain, and my knee wasn't really much better. What confused me was the pain in my arm. Last I checked, I wasn't injured there. I lifted my head slightly, groaning again as I saw a rather pissed off looking Scarlet at the foot of the bed.

"Hi, Scar," I said, dropping my head back on the pillow because of the light headed feeling starting.

" _Hi?_ " she practically shrieked, "'Hi' is what you have to say?" Oh dear. I really did piss her off, didn't I?

"Uh huh."

"Ash, I found you _bleeding out_ when I came up here to check on you!" she said angrily.

"Ah. That explains the light-headed feeling."

"And your arm! What the hell did you do to your arm!?"

"I didn't do-" I cut myself off after I saw my arm. Shallow punctures were in it, nothing as serious as my stomach. I looked closer. Were those...teeth marks? Memories of me trying to sew up my punctured stomach flooded back into my mind. "Oh, that. I bit into my arm to keep from screaming."

"You're an idiot."

"I know."

The fifteen-year-old sighed. "You can't keep doing this."

"Protecting people is what I do. It's what I _have_ to do to make up for the other things I've done."

"Ashley, what you've done is what you can't change," Scarlet said, taking on a serious tone, "Hell, you haven't even given anyone your real name so they're not in danger. You've already set your mind to not harming anyone. That's enough."

"It's really not," I sighed, sitting up, wincing inwardly as pain blossomed in my abdomen and knee, but still carrying through with the motion. I sighed as I looked down at my stitched up stomach. I guess Scarlet threw my shirt and hoodie away. Oh well. It wasn't special or anything. I stood up, shakily. I made my way to the door, holding my hand to my wound, just below my sports bra. "Where is everyone?"

"Asleep," she said, getting under one of my arms to support me, "They were worried about you. I told them you were fine." She gave me a knowing look.

"Well, I am," I insisted stubbornly, as we made our way down the hall to my room.

"You're not," she answered in a deadpan manner, shifting to be a better crutch, "And don't think I don't know it."

She opened the door to my room, where a blackboard filled with calculations and chemical bonds that probably only I could understand greeted us from the far wall, a workshop table in front of it, crowded with various materials that build up my gamma dampeners. Scarlet supported me until she got me to my barely-used bed, where she dropped me.

"You know I'm not sleeping, right?" I asked her, though I'm pretty sure she knew the answer already.

"You better damn well try," she said, turning toward the door, before walking out and slamming it shut. I took my spare glasses off the table, since I lost my others when I had to ditch the backpack, then immediately stood up, which I regretted, as soon as my stitches pulled and kneecap straightened. I winced, outwardly this time, before turning to my workbench, and walking the short distance to the my office chair. You know, the ones that are comfy and spin around? Yeah, those. I carefully lowered myself into the chair, so as not to injure myself further. I immediately started tinkering with the parts.

"Let's see, if the gamma drainer is compact, then I'll have to change them more often. But not so bulky, easier on my wing joints and back. But if I make the gamma drainer bigger, I won't have to switch it as often, meaning less maintenance, but more weight on my back, and my wing joints will keep bumping into the damned thing," I muttered to myself. This mumbling and brainstorming went on from about eleven at night to five in the morning, so I'll spare you the details. I looked up blearily to the sound of my other phone, the one I actually own and have valuable information on, beeping out its alarm tone. Why do I have an alarm set when I never sleep, you ask? Because said alarm tells me when I should start getting food for fifteen hungry children and teenagers. Sixteen counting me. I groan, frustrated, as I let pieces of technology fall from my hands, clattering onto the table. I carefully got up, letting out a small sigh of relief as I felt pain, duller than before, twinge in my abdomen and knee, and walk over to my bedside table, then shut off my phone alarm.

I limped over to my wardrobe, before opening the creaky wooden doors, pulling out a random shirt. I pulled it on, looking at up and down at myself, before deeming my slightly torn up jeans, black converse, and Green Day shirt presentable. I slipped a spare backpack on over my wings. I limped over to the door, pulling it open and stepping out into the hall. I climbed down the stairs extremely slowly, so I didn't pull my stitches or rearrange my kneecap. I made my way to the back door of the warehouse entrance, and pushed it open. I walked out, then closed the door behind me. I rearranged my walk in a way so it didn't look like I was limping, even though it was more painful. Then, started walking to where I got fast food breakfast, wincing with every step. Yeah, I can't cook. I can't be amazing at _everything_. So, IHOP was my savior. I walked in through the clear glass doors, going straight up to the counter, where Connor was cashier. Who is Conner? One of the employees that I've come to know very well as a friend. Yes, I go to IHOP very often. Get used to it.

"And how is my favorite customer?" he asked, grinning as I walked up to the counter. I rolled my eyes.

"Crappy. I need the regular order."

"Already bagged. Let me just get it." He went into the back, returning with four full huge plastic bags.

"I still don't get how you carry all of those," he commented as I lifted up the bags. My mind flashed to all my hours put into being a 'winged arsonist'.

"I work out," I said wryly, winking at him before I walked out the doors. _If only he knew._ I hurried as fast as I dared to without hurting myself. Once I got there, I maneuvered my hand to open the back door, and bumped it closed after I got in. I walked to the dining room, which is where a bunch of tables and chairs are bunched together to form a big family table. I dropped the bags on the table, before moving away form the table to get a package of paper plates. Yeah, cheap, I know, but you can't trust kids with ceramic plates. Trust me. I plopped the plates in their places, then distributed plastic knifes, forks, and spoons. Can't trust kids with silverware either. I then put down the styrofoam containers which had everyone's favorite breakfasts in it. When I had just my container left, I just fell into the head chair, which I immediately regretted because of my knee, then opened it.

Red velvet pancakes. Doesn't get any better than that. I inhaled the red velvety goodness, before grabbing a fork and wolfing down a good half of the portion, before getting a hiccuping fit. I stopped a while after that, catching my breath to try and make the hiccups stop. Unfortunately, Scarlet came down before that happened. She snorted when she saw me, gasping for breath because of the evil, evil pancakes.

"Little trouble, Ash?"

I shot her a glare which clearly said, 'Fuck you.'

She just laughed a little, before sliding into the place to my right. She opened her container, which had double blueberry pancakes. They were okay, but not as good as red velvet. We have had several fights over that topic, surprisingly enough. I eventually caught my breath by the time Scarlet had finished a quarter of her breakfast. I finished the rest of my breakfast, right when the other kids started coming down.

The fifteen-year-old twins, Zane and Dwayne(yes, their names rhyme, so get used to it), came down first, identical grins on their faces as they caught sight of breakfast on the table. They rushed to the table, tearing open the containers and digging in. I rolled my eyes at their 'manners' and got up carefully, then walked over to the trash bin, depositing the remains of my breakfast. I hobbled back to my seat, waiting for the others.

Ryan came down next. Manageable fourteen-year-old. Quiet, but still, you know, teenage-boy-behaved. But he seems rather...down today. He silently sat down at the table and opened his container, eating in complete muteness. Contrary to the twins, who were arguing among themselves. Already. I narrowed my eyes at him. Something was wrong...

I found out the reason to Ryan's change in mood. _She_ came down next. Grace came down, looking exhausted. I turned my narrowed eyes towards her in suspicion. The fourteen-year-old seemed to have trouble keeping her eyes open, which was _not_ natural. She was normally very...peppy. She looked completely and totally tired out. She looked up at the table, flinching when her eyes found Ryan, averting her gaze immediately. She practically ran to her seat on my other side, opposite of Scarlet, sitting down and not looking at anyone, especially Ryan, me, and Scarlet, as she started to eat her breakfast.

Oh. _Ohhhh._

You see, the problem with running a children's home and raising said children is that they're not related to each other, and they know it. Therefore, they're allowed to have, ahem, _feelings_ for each other. And the problem with being _me_...actually, there's a ton of problems with that, but that's not the point. The point is, they're both like siblings to me. However, they can have other relationships than platonic for each other.

So, I have to deal with my by-everything-but-blood-sister telling my by-everything-but-blood brother that she likes him. Scarlet and I knew her feelings for him a _long_ time ago, but never actually thought about what might happen if she _told_ him about said feelings.

Ugh. Fuck my life.

I tapped the table on Scarlet's side, so she paused in her eating. I nodded slightly towards Grace, then towards Ryan. Her gaze followed my movements, eyes widening as she put the pieces together. Her back straightened up in surprise, shooting me a look that said, 'Are you fucking _kidding_ me?' I gave a small, barely-noticeable shrug, indicating that I was indeed not fucking kidding her. She narrowed her eyes at me, no doubt thinking of the most effective way to kill me and deposit my body without anyone finding it, before slumping back into her chair, eating the rest of her pancakes, with less enthusiasm than before, clearly not excited about dealing with teenage hormones and their love life.

I doubt even IHOP's pancakes can fix the mess Grace and Ryan are in that is the teenage life.

But then again, there's teenage life, and there's _my_ life.

I would prefer teenage life any day.

After the rest of the teens and kids (I'm not naming all of them) came down, breakfast was eaten quickly, and everyone grabbed their bags, filing outside to walk to their respective schools. I would like to point out that the schools are all free, since no sixteen-year-old should have to pay school tuition bills. I have enough on my hands with stealing from the nearby apartment complexes. What? Believe it or not, I'm _not_ a billionaire. I'm just a teen who has a director of SHIELD who's _seriously_ pissed off at her.

As soon as everyone was gone, I unfurled my wings, and flapped them. When I got into the air, I snapped my fingers, a wisp of flames escaping from the motion, the fire eventually spreading out into the well known figure of Firebird. I sighed, getting ready to argue with a pirate, before shooting up into the air. The Helicarrier was nowhere in sight.

Oh well. Can't talk to Fury, can't argue. Kicking super villain ass is fine with me too.

So, naturally, I looked for some trouble to get into. Shouldn't be hard.

* * *

I swear, I'm a fucking fortune teller.

Not only did I find some trouble to get into, I managed to crash into a fucking high school while fighting!

Worst part: it was _Scarlet's_ high school. She was going to give me so much shit about this later.

Yes, I'm worried about a fourteen-year-old teen girl annoying me about me getting my ass kicked while I was in the middle of a fight with a snake themed villain.

Oh. Wait.

I barely stood up before the snake man crashed into me, forcing me to the floor. I immediately reacted to his sparking wrist tasers by grabbing them with fire covered hands.

"Out!" I yelled, swiveling my head around me, "Everyone out!" The frightened students didn't waste anytime, running out of the partially destroyed room. I gritted my teeth together, burning hotter. The tazers overheated.

Oops.

I took my hand off of his right wrist, and promptly punched him in the face.

What? Never said I was subtle.

I got up off the ground, brushing imaginary dust off my figure. I walked over to the dizzied form of King Cobra. I took him by his hood, and dragged him out of the building. I flew up, and flew over to the road we were previously fighting at. I deposited him in the ring of fire I made in the center of the road, where his other reptile pals already were. Hey, it's not like the traffic could get any worse. I flew up, ready to go home and watch Red vs. Blue for the hundredth time while eating junk food. Ahh, the life of no school. Binge watching and fighting super villains.

Until I got interrupted.

I narrowed my eyes at one of the many bridges in New York. One figure against three. I squinted. Correction: one _very_ familiar figure against three.

I flew down to the scene, just in case I was needed. I froze in surprise when the scene unfolded, but snapped out of it when Grace started screaming.

Grace was pushed one of the three shitheads. _Off the bridge._

I dive bombed, tucking my wings in and becoming a streak of flame hurtling downward. Grace was falling, fast. Her heavy backpack wasn't helping gravity's effect on her either. I swear to fucking god, I was going to kill those bitches. I extinguished the flames on my arms before halting below Grace's body. She screamed until she fell into my arms. She stopped, realizing she was fine. She looked up at me, who was currently death glaring at the three tiny silhouettes on the bridge.

"Ash?"

"Yeah, kid, it's me. Relax." I shook off the other girl's rage, instead bringing in my own, which didn't quite turn me into a creature of destruction.

"What...I don't-"

"What happened is that Ryan wasn't there to watch your back," I near snarled, flying in the direction of the warehouse, my arms already getting tired. Okay, explanations. There's going to be a lot of these. Scarlet, Zane, Dwayne, Grace and Ryan are the only ones who know my secret identity, for the first part. And the whole 'watch your back' thing? I have a buddy system with the kids. Stop laughing. Two (or three, in Scarlet's and the twins' case) kids are paired together, practically protecting each other from everything. School society, jackasses, muggers, you name it. They walk together for school, since New York isn't exactly the safest place. And, normally, they're best friends. However, with love drama between Grace and Ryan at the moment, that may not be the case, since, you know, awkwardness. But because Ryan wasn't fucking _there,_ Grace got pushed off the _fucking_ bridge!

Maybe you can guess, but I'm a tiny bit pissed about this.

I landed at the back of the warehouse, immediately extinguished my flames, folded my wings, and stormed in through the back entrance. My arms darted through the room of the people who knew my identity, who had the earliest ending school times (on purpose, by the way) and clenched my fists when my eyes landed on Ryan.

"You _fucking_ moron!" I yelled, crossing the room in a few strides, grabbing him by the collar, and slamming him against the nearest wall. Considering I was taller than him, this was quite intimidating. Good.

"Ash, what the hell-"

"Dwayne, shut up," I glared at the said boy for a moment, before turning my rage back onto Ryan, "Do you have any _fucking_ idea how much you've messed up, you _shithead!?"_

"Wow. I haven't seen her this angry since you guys used her Green Day CDs for the disco ball," I heard Scarlet mutter to the twins. I didn't really give a shit at the moment.

"Ash, what did I-" Ryan started, until I interrupted.

"I'll tell you what you did! Grace was pushed off a _fucking_ bridge, you _asshole!_ And guess who _wasn't_ there to help her because all she did was admit her feelings?"

His eyes widened in realization. I heard a very, very unnatural silence echoing throughout the room.

"What!?" Ryan shrieked, very unmanly, by the way, "I didn't mean-"

"Yeah? Well, guess what? Because of your petty little grudge holding because Grace said she liked you, she nearly got killed! I don't care what the _fuck_ you meant!"

"Ashley," a tired voice came from the back door. I turned toward it, loosening my grip on Ryan a bit. Grace stood there, looking shaken. "Just leave it. I don't care anymore."

I let Ryan drop. He slid down the wall, looking terrified. Never let it be said that I need my Firebird persona to be scary.

"Fine," I said through gritted teeth, I walked over to Grace, "Here. I'll do you math and science homework. But I don't know shit about history, so you'll have to do that."

Grace gave a slight grin. "I should fall off bridges more often."

I smirked slightly, walking up to her room with her, no doubt leaving a bunch of confused and terrified teens behind. Grace's teenage behavior was coming back. "If you do that, then I'll probably get pissed at you."

"And we all saw how that went."

"C'mon kid. If we get your homework done, then I'll watch stupid horror movies with you just to point out the cliches."

"What joy."

"I know, right?"

* * *

 **DONE!**

 **This is a little sneak peek of Firebird/Ashley/Phoenix's life. Mostly daily thing, besides the falling off the bridge thing.**

 **Sorry I've taken so long. I'm really crowded with school and also the fact that I have trouble writing right now.**

 **But the point is, I'm done.**

 **Sooo...**

 **PEACE OUT PEOPLES!**

 **Moonlightmistborn**


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